Ecuador: learnings from an indigenous leader in Ecuador

This chapter applies three paradigmatic approaches to analyze the case of Nemonte Nenquimo, an indigenous female leader in Ecuador who successfully defended Waorani ancestral territory against oil exploitation by the Ecuadorian government. These approaches include the positivist, the interpretive and the critical. First, we rely on Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientation Method to analyze the case from a positivist approach. Then, we rely on d’Iribarne and colleagues’ framework of cultural analysis to examine the case from an interpretive approach. Finally, to analyze the case critically, we apply the work of Hill Collins on intersectionality. In the final section of the chapter, we discuss the implications of the three paradigms for intercultural leadership situations and suggest their complementary use for understanding, leveraging and managing cultural differences.